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This is a text-only version of an article first published on Wednesday, 1 June 2016. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
LIZI Bowerman is in training for an 87-mile fundraising walk to celebrate 10 years since she and her husband Juan became debt free.
Lizi, who is now an Area Manager for Christians Against Poverty , tells Jo Duckles how the charity helped transform their lives.
Lizi in training for her walk.
Photo Juan Bowerman.
It was court fees from a custody case for her husband's children from a previous marriage that pushed the couple into debt.
"It took two years and, because we were both working, we couldn't get Legal Aid.
It cost us thousands of pounds," she says.
Before that, despite having finance for a car and a trailer tent, the Bowermans were doing okay.
"We were both working and our loans were not for anything extravagant. "With two children to look after, the couple's income dropped as one of them had to work less.
At the time they were worshipping at Oxford's Vineyard Church, where they sought help through the CAP centre.
"We were incredibly blessed as the representatives came and sat down with us and went through our financial situation.
They went through all of the details of our income, expenses and debts and built a budget so we could afford to live and look for the best way out of debt," says Lizi.
"We were so significantly in debt that we chose to go through personal bankruptcy.
In the court the Judge looked over his glasses at us and asked if we realised we wouldn't be able to get any more credit.
It removed all of the temptation from us to get back into that situation. "CAP stuck with us in our moment of need.
The centre manager came to court with us, prepared all the paper work, helped us save the money for the bankruptcy fees, and communicated with our creditors so the letters and telephone calls stopped. " This was perfect timing for the Bowermans to find themselves on the front-foot financially as it was around then that their daughter was born. Despite Juan now being unable to work due to ill health, Lizi says God has provided amazingly for her family.
"We have had everything we have needed when we have needed it," she says.
So, in 2008, when the Oxford CAP centre was threatened with closure, Lizi gave up her paid work to run it on a voluntary basis.
"God used everything we had been through, so our journey wasn't a waste of time and I have used our story to help bless other people," she says. Since the end of 2009, Lizi has been in her paid role, which has steadily grown so that she now oversees 18 CAP centres from Banbury to Poole, including five in Oxfordshire, three of which she personally helped to establish.
She was heavily involved with St Clement's Church in Oxford opening a CAP Debt Centre, with Jill Ewbank the centre manager, who has previously written about CAP's work in the Door.
"A fundamental part of spiritual maturity is getting your finances under control.
It has also given us the skills to weather the storms that come our way.
Life hasn't been a piece of cake but being debt free is hugely liberating. " Lizi's sponsored walk will see her do 29-miles of the Ridgeway, solo and in silence, every day for three days. Lizi worships at St Matthew's, Harwell and is a member of the Wallingford Deanery Synod. THE Oxford CAP Debt Centre is a partnership of six Oxford churches, committed to serving the community.
A freephone number connects the person seeking help to a member of the enquiries team at the charity's national centre in Bradford, from where an appointment is made for one of the local debt coaches to meet the client for the first of three visits.
They are accompanied by a volunteer befriender who can ensure continuity through the often long process of coming out of debt.
The befriender will also know if there is a change of circumstances or the client is having trouble keeping up with their commitments, and adjustments can be made. Combining CAP's expertise with the love and message of the Church provides a life transforming mix.
The Oxford Centre has worked with 87 individuals, couples or families since 2014.
Nationally CAP helps over 27,000 people to get out of debt every year, hundreds of whom have come to faith and found a home in a church. A CAP client from Oxford said on BBC South Today: "You can only ask friends and family so many times to help you.
So turning to CAP for me was like a breath of fresh air.
The people involved in CAP are very professional, they're very considerate, they don't have any hidden agenda. "If you are in the Oxford area and would like to discuss what it means to be a volunteer befriender, call Jill Ewbank on 07885549594.
CAP - helping when there's 'too much month left at the end of the money'
IN Milton Keynes Dr Steve Norman is one of five Christians Against Poverty Money Course coaches who run courses helping people sort out their financial problems. Steve, from Christ the King, who is involved with CAP along with his wife Jackie, believes they have helped up to 80 people over five years.
"I'm a doctor and I see lots of people whose marriages break up, who run into financial trouble and it seemed one way the Church could help," says Steve.
Initially three people from Christ the King trained to do the money course, and since then Steve has become the lead coach for CAP in his area of Milton Keynes. "Most of the people who have come along have been Christians from churches other than our own, which says something about the subject matter. " The courses are often run over three evenings, but can be done in one day. Steve says he would like to do more and they had looked at setting up a job club, but that would not be a need in their area, which is affluent.
"We have been talking to leaders of other churches to see whether they feel better placed to run something like this.
We have run the money courses with Pentecostal churches and at one of those we had about 40 people. "One of the people helped by the Milton Keynes course told their story anonymously:"I joined the CAP course at Christ the King Community Church after a friend attended and said how it had helped her.
I had recently reduced my working hours and found that there was too much month left at the end of the money.
I tried to sort things out myself but found that as every month went by I was more and more overdrawn, which ended up with bank charges too. "I was reluctant to attend the course as I didn't want people to think I was irresponsible with my money but I found the CAP Money coaches to be very welcoming and mon -judgemental.
They just wanted to encourage me to look at a new way of budgeting my money.
The CAP money coaches took the course members through a DVD and gave us our own booklets with all the material in it for us to take home. "As we went through the DVD with some input from the money coaches I thought it too simplistic to work, it sounded too easy, but I was determined to give it a go.
Once the course was finished I was registered onto the CAP website where I was able to put all my details into a very easy programme.
This helped me to produce a budget.
I looked at my outgoings and made some adjustments, reducing my car and pet insurances and other direct debits.
I was amazed at how much I was able to save by sitting down and facing the problem.
This was all done with the encouragement from the CAP team. "Once I had my budget I needed to make it work and this was helped by having, as CAP suggests, three accounts: current/ cash /savings.
I was asked to take out money from my cash account each week on the same day and use that for my shopping, trying to use cash not cards.
I was nervous about overspending, but it worked.
I was even able to put a little away each month into savings and it has been great to see this growing as the months have gone by, helping me to plan for birthdays etc.
It's been two years since I did the course and it is still working for me and I haven't been overdrawn since that time. "Please give the CAP Money System a try, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. "